Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 510 Diplomacy with businessmen ([-])

Zhang Daniu, who was wearing a dark blue army uniform, stood with his head upright outside the door of the meeting room, looking ahead, motionless like a sculpture.But if you observe carefully, you will find that this fellow's ears have been pricked up, as if trying to listen to the movement in the conference room.

An important diplomatic negotiation is taking place in the conference room.As a senior non-commissioned officer of the 5th Company of the Army, Zhang Daniu and his comrades in two platoons were mobilized inside and outside the town government compound, and together with the police, the entire compound was guarded.Zhang Daniu was fortunate enough to be assigned to stand guard outside the meeting room, and he was quite curious about the officials and gentlemen, so he listened attentively to what they said.

It's a pity that the sound insulation effect of the meeting room is really good, which made him hear vaguely all the time, which made his heart itch even more.Only occasionally when the two sides seem to raise their voices because of disputes, can Zhang Daniu hear a little more clearly.

"We firmly advocate the rights and interests of the entire Xinhua Island, and express great indignation at your company's behavior of wantonly capturing indigenous people and cutting down precious trees near the port of Tulare. Please stop it immediately." Well, this voice seems to be Liu Master Ang Liu's voice.He speaks in a rhythmic manner, which is very characteristic, and anyone who has heard it can easily distinguish it.After Liu Ang finished speaking, his secretary seemed to translate it to the Dutch in French.

The Dutchman quickly retorted in a high-pitched voice.Well, it must be the governor of the Netherlands who is dressed like an opera singer. This guy has been keeping a straight face, so he probably can't talk very well.Liu Ang's secretary quickly translated back the Dutchman's opinion verbatim, and then Liu Ang opened his mouth to say something, but the voice was too soft and Zhang Daniu couldn't hear it clearly.

Then there was another burst of low-pitched words, which made Zhang Daniu drowsy, until another high-pitched voice woke him up. "No, it's impossible. These technologies are the core technologies of our country, and they will never be allowed to get their hands on them. Your Excellency Governor, it is a pity that your request is not allowed by us."

What?Those red hairs actually want to buy our technology?How does this make it!Zhang Daniu suddenly felt a little angry. Now he is no longer the mud-legged person who didn't know anything. After so many years of study, he has already understood the importance of industrial technology to the country. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is the lifeblood.How can this kind of thing be sold to others?

But the Dutch do not seem to intend to give up their entanglement on this issue easily. They repeatedly make a fuss about it, their voices are also very passionate, and their speech speed is also very fast. It seems that they will not give up until they achieve their goals.And the people on the east bank are also tit for tat. They seem to be unwilling to give an inch on this issue, and the two sides are caught in a tug-of-war of saliva.

For the next two hours or so, there was such a "whispered" conversation, so that Zhang Daniu could not hear anything.While he was upset, the door was suddenly opened from the inside. Liu Ang, the captain of the South African pioneer team, stepped out of the venue first. He walked and said angrily to Governor De Yang who was behind him: "Our side is against the Spaniards. Taking necessary measures will also be of great benefit to reducing the pressure on your country and your company, and we have also promised to cut off the supply of weapons to the Brazilians. Why are you so greedy? Do you insist on getting involved in this shouldn't In the war that happened?"

Governor De Young smiled slightly when he heard the words, and then said: "Frankly speaking, the exchange benefits you gave are not enough. Stopping the supply of weapons to the Brazilians is only one aspect, and respecting our company's rule over the East Indies is also one aspect. You must also show some sincerity, such as the design of the hydraulic sawing machine, planer, and boring machine we need."

In fact, these technologies are "backward" technologies that have been eliminated on the east coast, and were brought to La Plata and the French colony of Fort Dovan by some defected engineers last year. It will be a matter of time before they spread to the Netherlands. , so at this time, if it can be packaged and sold to the Dutch as a chip at this time, it seems to be a pretty good business.The reason why Liu Ang is still chatting with the other party about this issue is purely intentional.

The negotiating group sat under a pear tree that had been planted for many years in the town government compound, and then continued to negotiate endlessly.At this time, the theme of the negotiation is still around technology transfer, and the two sides continue to add chips or killers to it.For example, the issue of the long-lasting war between the Kama tribe in the east and the people on the east coast, such as the public shelter of the pirates on St. Mary Island by the people on the east coast, and the fact that the merchants on the east coast and the merchants of the Ottoman Empire squeezed out the Netherlands together. Human problems, etc.

This endless tug-of-war negotiation continued after lunch, and it was not temporarily concluded until the evening. There were only a handful of agreements reached by the two sides, and there seemed to be only one agreement about stopping the attack on the Kama tribe on the east bank and the Dutch stopping their attacks on them. The assistance has temporarily been agreed by both parties.

Negotiations continued the next day, but the venue was moved to Liu Ang's private estate outside the city, where it continued for ten days until February 2.This time the two sides have achieved relatively large results. First, the Dutch expressed their neutrality in the possible war between the East Coast Republic of China and the Kingdom of Spain (the war between the Netherlands and Spain was basically on the verge of ending at this time), and they were willing to pay a preferential price. Sell ​​some important war materials to the people on the east coast; at the same time, they are also willing to reduce and control the scale of the trading station in Tulare, and reduce the damage to the local environment; finally they also agree to open the Dutch Brazil, the West Indies, and the African colonies Giving the port to the people on the east coast basically agreed to most of the conditions put forward by the people on the east coast.

Correspondingly, in order to get the Dutch to agree to the above terms, the East Coasters themselves also paid a huge price.They gave up their support for the Portuguese in Brazil, decided to restrain the uninterrupted attacks of the Eight Banners of South Africa on the Kama tribe, and restrain the pirates of Saint Mary Island from attacks on Dutch merchant ships; at the same time, they opened the ports of South Africa and Xinhuaxia Island to allow Dutch ships to dock for supplies The technology of hydraulic sawing machines, planers, boring machines, and forging hammers was transferred to the Dutch East India Company at the price of 47 tons of rice. The Dutch will ship these grains to Dabo Port for delivery by the end of October 10.

Finally, the two sides recognize each other's current colonies, and in principle agree to open up trade in their respective colonies-of course, these require approval from a higher level.Once approved, the next negotiation between the two sides will focus on the types of commodities traded by their respective colonies.If possible, the two sides can also conclude a non-aggression pact to guarantee the rare peace negotiation results between the two sides.

In fact, to be honest, these agreements reached by the two parties have basically been negotiated for several rounds before. Realistic and very outrageous conditions, so the negotiation process has generally been relatively smooth.According to Governor Dejan, the Dutch plenipotentiary envoy who came to the negotiations this time, Governor Van Diemen, who insisted on taking a tough attitude towards the people on the east coast, may resign soon. In this way, the differences between the two parties should be even less , you should be able to do business happily in the future.

In fact, there was an episode in which the Dutch asked whether they could start the investigation of the armed merchant ship "Traveler" that disappeared in the waters near Xinhua Port a few years ago to find out whether the ship had crashed.Liu Ang's face remained unchanged after hearing the words, but he was extremely embarrassed in his heart. After the ship was changed by the East Coast people, it has now become a battleship of the East-Portuguese United Fleet. How can it be returned to the Dutch? The topic changed.

Finally, the Dutch also demanded that the East Bank liberalize steel export restrictions.In recent years, with the gradual relaxation of the relationship between the Dutch and the people on the east bank, there have been some trade connections between the colony in the river and the colony of Cape Town, and the most important one is naturally the steel flowing in from the east bank. .The Dutch craftsmen in Fort Good Hope reheated these high-quality steel in the form of steel bars, and then forged them into various utensils. The quality was much better than the ones they bought from Europe.

As for why not directly buy all kinds of appliances produced by people from the east coast, it is mainly a question of cost.The Dutch had a large number of slave artisans in Fort Good Hope, and the cost was not a problem for them, and the people on the east coast might not be able to provide the wide variety of metal products they needed.There are always only a few monotonous iron products on the shelves of people on the east coast: shovels, picks, rakes, hoes, etc., and exports to the Cape Colony are also restricted.Then the Dutch had to rely on themselves, and the steel flowing in from the river colony was not a controlled commodity on the east bank, so it became the favorite of Dutch craftsmen and played a huge role in their colonization.

All in all, after confirming that they will not covet their respective spheres of influence, the conflict between the East Bank and the Netherlands has gradually eased in recent years.After the people on the east coast voluntarily released some goodwill, the relationship between the Dutch East India Company, which regarded itself as a businessman, and the people on the east coast has been greatly improved.It is believed that after the two sides gradually open up colonial trade in the next few years (if possible), the bilateral relationship may have further development.

And after stabilizing the relationship with the Dutch, the people on the east coast can spare more energy to take care of the big mess with the Spaniards.After all, multi-line combat has always been a taboo for military strategists. The Spaniards with great families and careers can not care about this (in the war, one enemy is several), but the East Coast people who are not strong enough can not bear it.Now, after getting rid of the big burden of the Dutch, whether it is war or peace, the people on the east coast have a lot of room for maneuver.

(End of this chapter)